Laura Pilkington is a 23 year old Para Swimmer with the Falkirk Integrated Regional Swim Team and a member of both the SDS & sportscotland Young Person’s Sports Panels. Laura has been an active participant in our award winning Be Active Be Well programme and has written about how these inclusive sessions have enabled her to continue staying active during these difficult times.
The Scottish Disability Sport Be Active Be Well programme has been a hit with numerous individuals across different regions taking part in a range exercise and wellbeing sessions. I participated in a lot of the Be Active sessions over the summer months including yoga, HIIT, calisthenics and wheelchair exercise sessions. There really is something for everyone.
I thoroughly enjoyed these sessions, and even when I broke my leg during the first lockdown I was still able to participate fully with different adaptations to exercises. That was one of my favourite things about the sessions and the adaptability each instructor had, there would be numerous slightly different exercises in one class! Nobody was left out and all different disabilities were catered for.
This was a unique opportunity as a lot of exercise sessions were going on during lockdown but the ‘Be Active Be Well’ sessions were specifically for people with a disability. It can be quite intimidating going to an exercise class without knowing if it is going to be accessible, but these sessions were designed to be accessible giving an ease of mind when joining in!
The upbeat nature of the classes and relaxed environment made it a great atmosphere to be a part of which was very welcoming. I gained a lot of upper body strength within those sessions as well as learning a lot of new exercises that I could do away from the classes. One of my favourite classes was HIIT with Gill Penfold, she always challenged you and gave you ways you could progress the exercise and I definitely came out of those sessions feeling a sense of pride in what I had achieved.
The group had a real community feel, you got to know each other over the 12 week period and I definitely felt like I had something missing out of my routine when they stopped. Luckily, they are back on and are free and fully accessible for all. One of the hardest things about lockdown can be feeling lonely and isolated but the general chit chat and laughs at the start and end of sessions helped towards this and getting to know other people with a disability. Having something to focus on and a distraction from everything happening in the world really helped with my mental health and gave me an hour that day just to focus on myself! If you haven’t already tried the Be Active sessions, I would highly recommend getting involved!
Laura Pilkington, Young Persons Sport Panel
View all our Be Active Be Well sessions and register for one here.